Archive for the 'Track And Field' Tag Under 'UCLA' Category

LOS ANGELES — It was the kind of day multi-event track athletes dream of, when every jump, every stride, and every throw just seems to fall into place.

Sharon Day-Monroe was already a two-time national indoor champion in the pentathlon, but she’d never quite gotten all the pieces to fit to her liking – not like they did on Feb. 22 in Albuquerque.

That day, at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Day-Monroe set a personal best in 60m hurdles and shot put, won the high jump – her specialty – and finished in second in the long jump. The total performance (4,805 points) was good enough to beat the American record in pentathlon by 52 points and shatter her career-best score by 238.

“All of my events are sort of clicking at the right time,” Day-Monroe said last Saturday, while packing for her trip to this week’s World Track & Field Championships in Sopot, Poland.

A former Costa Mesa High track star and volunteer assistant coach at UCLA, Day-Monroe didn’t even compete in long jump, hurdles, shot put, or javelin – four of the main events in the heptathlon – until 2007.

Rick Neuheisel and UCLA now control their own destiny in the Pac-12 South race with Saturday night's nail-biting 29-28 victory against Arizona State at the Rose Bowl.

The Bruins (4-2 Pac-10, 5-4 overall) are in a three-way tie atop the Southern Division with USC (4-2, 7-2) and ASU (4-2, 6-3). But the Trojans are ineligible for the Pac-12 title game because of NCAA sanctions and if both UCLA and ASU win out the Bruins go to the conference final because of Saturday's victory.

The Sun Devils, however, have an easier road to a showdown with Oregon or Stanford. ASU travels to Washington State next week, then hosts Arizona and Cal.

The Bruins travel to Utah next week then host Colorado before finishing the regular season against USC at the Coliseum.

Former UCLA and Edison High pole vaulter Tori Pena will represent Ireland this weekend at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Pena, 24, received dual citizenship last summer. Her grandmother, Angela McCoy, is Irish.

"My grandma is absolutely amazing," Pena said. "I think it's pretty unbelievable for her to think that I'm representing Ireland in the pole vault of all things. I don't think it's anything she could have ever imagined."

"Although my grandma was never into sports herself, she's always been a role model for me," Pena explained. "She truly is unbelievably loving and genuine to every person she meets and I've always cherished that about her."

Even on the days when it was clear Scott Davis was losing his more than decade-long battle with cancer, he was still quick with a joke, often R-rated, always told up close, like he was letting you in on some secret he just had to share with you right away.

“No more than six, eight inches from your face,” former UCLA track coach Bob Larsen said laughing at the memory. “Scott had a kind of in your face sense of humor.”

Davis was just as eager to share his passion for track and field. He was the Rose Bowl press box announcer for parts of three decades, an expert on all things UCLA, the longtime meet director of the Mt. SAC Relays, a warm and loyal friend, a world renowned track statistician and unmatched storyteller.

He also knew no equal as a meet announcer, Davis' infectious enthusiasm echoing through track and field stadiums from Seville to Osaka to Eugene back to Westwood as he provided the sport's soundtrack for more than a quarter-century.

“That passion is what made him the best announcer, I think, in the world,” said Tom Jordan, the longtime meet director of Eugene's Prefontaine Classic, this country's premier track event.